Media Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For my AS media coursework assignment I was tasked with producing a music magazine comprised of three media texts (front cover, contents page, double page spread). For my magazine I chose to cover the Hip-Hop genre. To cover the conventions used in hip-hop magazines, I researched the biggest magazines in the genre and developed the conventions used. This was done to give the media texts a professional look, and to appeal to the same audience as the media institutions I researched. Examples of conventions I developed include the use of similar fonts, a large masthead that conforms with the house style of the magazine, a large main image, the use of three font colours throughout the magazine to add to the house style, the use of a barcode, the use of social media links, and the use of only two fonts. My media product challenges conventions as well as developing them, as you can see, the Front cover doesn’t feature a plug, this is because I felt that after researching institutions within the genre, that many other media products within the genre would often not include plugs, and I feel that the lack of a plug conforms more to the other institutions within the genre, and the audience. For this reason I decided that the use of a plug would not be in keeping with the genres conventions, and that my magazine would look more professional as a result. Throughout my product I have stuck to the same text font, this is done to portray a professional image to the consumer, as using different fonts gives the impression of an amateur product, and a lesser quality when compared to other magazines within the genre that have a universal font, along with colour schemes and conventions this can help to give the media product a unique house style, which is important when trying to define the product from the rest of the genres media products. As this gives the user a sense that they are buying a quality brand, and will allow for a fan base to grow. The development of a house style, and the use of 3 colours, and a universal font also help distinguish the magazine from the rest of the media products within the genre.

 

How does  your media product represent particular social groups?

 

My media product represents younger people, and hip-hop fans through the covering of younger artists, and the images being comprised of younger artists. As well as the competitive price of £2 per copy, which is an affordable price for younger fans. In my the market research I performed before producing the final product, I found that the majority of Hip-Hop fans were of a younger age, and decided that the £2 price tag was more appealing to a younger audience, as well as the development of other institutions such as VIBE, which also market their product towards a younger audience.

 

 

 

 

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience for the magazine is young hip-hop fans who are either working class or students. I targeted this particular audience because after researching the target audience of other media institutions within the genre, I found that they all targeted and appealed to a younger, urban audience. To help decide on a price for the magazine, and features that should be included, I conducted a videoed focus group and found out that younger audiences are interested in cheaper magazines, with features on festivals, gadgets, up and coming artists, album reviews and interviews with famous artists. This helped me set a price for the magazine, and choose topics to cover within the magazine. I also used the social economic study I performed to help decide on which audience the magazine would be marketed towards.

How did you attract/address your audience?

 

My magazine attracts the target audience through the use of competitive pricing and features on artists that the target audience are interested in, by not using a plug to attract the audience, the magazine can be sold for a more appealing price, which I feel is more likely to attract customers than the chance of a free gift bag or festival ticket. as well as the use of plugs and a low price, the magazine also feels professional, and because I developed the conventions used by other magazines in the genre, the magazine feels like part of the Hip-Hop scene.

I stereotyped the audience by focussing on certain features such as technology, interviews with artists, and festival news and information. These features tend to be more interesting to a young reader, than a reader in their 50’s, for that reason, the magazine represents people of a younger age, and in the socioeconomic groups of D and E.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

 Media companies such as Spin Media would be the most likely institution to distribute my media product, this is due to the fact that their main media product (VIBE) is aimed at a similar market audience and covers similar genres of music (Hip-Hop and R&B). As well as this, as VIBE is a quarterly magazine, spin media may find that there is a gap in the market for a monthly magazine targeting young urban hip-hop fans, As well as DJ’s and people interested in audio equipment.

I would want an institution such as Spin Media to distribute my media product, due to the fact that VIBE is one of the biggest media products within the genre, and has a large circulation, I feel that being associated with this institution will help increase circulation, and portray a professional look for the magazine, as well as being able to reach out to a larger audience. As well as this, because spin media are already in the business of distributing magazines within the same genre, they will be more experienced in advertising the product and increasing circulation of the magazine, and therefore overall turnover.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

 

Throughout the year I have learned a multitude of different techniques in Photoshop, this includes the use of red eye reduction, crop tools, organising of layers, changing opacity of a layer, importing images, use of shape tools, use of magic wand and use of selection tools. I also used tools such as transform, which allowed me to change the size of an image, without changing the aspect ratio and distorting the image. Although I could already utilize some of these tools before starting the course, the course has taught me how to properly apply these tools, and to recognise when other institutions use these tools to help create a house style for their product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

 

 

Looking back at the preliminary task, I have learned a multitude of photo shopping tools and techniques, as well as a larger understanding of the conventions involved in magazines, this has helped me to produce a more professional product, that develops or challenges conventions used by media institutions such as NME or VIBE magazine. Because of this, it is possible to create a house style for the magazine, and address the target audience effectively. I have improved on my use of fonts and colours over the course of the year, the difference between my perfume advert and my front cover show how my use of fonts and colours has changed, as well as my understanding of the conventions in magazines

I believe the biggest improvement overall has been in the use of Fonts and layout, with my preliminary task and college magazine, I used standard photoshop fonts, rather than from dafont.com. This meant that the fonts used were rather plain. As well as that, the use of images on the media text has changed. Rather than using multiple images like I did in the first two tasks, I decided to have one main image rather than 2 or three images. This is because other institutions in the same genre don’t use multiple images on the front cover. This is an example of how I have learned to challenge or develop conventions I have learned from other institutions media texts.

If I had the chance to change the text I produced, I would take longer taking the main images, and would develop better feature stories, and would also implement the use of plugs and pull quotes more.

The preliminary task was useful because it allowed me to learn from the mistakes I made, and develop my skills to produce a higher quality media text. It has also allowed me to compare the two texts, and see how much I’ve improved, and in which areas.

I have learned a wide range of skills since the preliminary task, including use of colours and fonts and how they can help create a house style for the magazine. Photoshop editing such as spot healing and blur tools. Fast recognition of conventions within the genre and how they can be challenged or developed as well as being used to improve on my media text. These skills have helped me produce a media text that challenges or develops conventions within the genre, uses colours, fonts and images to create a house style for the magazine and is advertised towards a specific area of society.